If you've been working in a home office for long, you've discovered some of the many perks. Getting to drink your carefully selected coffee instead of whatever the delivery guy brought to fill the industrial sized machine is one such perk. Another, is getting to work in your pajamas. If you are wanting to take it to the next level, then get ready to work in your pajamas on your deck!
Wireless Networks
At first glance, setting up a wireless network sounds challenging, but the reality is that it can be very simple. A wireless network or Wi-Fi network takes a wireless access point (WAP) to receive and send out signals and a wireless network card in your computer to do the same. The good news is that most laptops made in the last five years or so have wireless networking built in. Today, many desktop computers come with wireless installed as well. So, you might already have one piece of this equation before you even start.
Choosing a Wireless Access Point
There is a sea of wireless equipment out there and with all the letters, numbers, and techno-jargon, it can be daunting. Breaking it down into small pieces helps cut through the mumbo-jumbo.
The standard under which Wi-Fi networks operate is called the 802.11 protocol. Don't let that scare you. 802.11 is just a reference number. All Wi-Fi networks are going to be under the 802.11 standard. You don't need to know anything about that. What you care about is the letter that comes after 802.11. The most common are a, b, and g. (Occasionally, you'll see 802.11n. Technically, the n specification has not been released, but, n is faster than g.)
These days, 802.11a is old news and pretty much anything out there supports it, so only the others matter. While there are a lot of technical differences between each version, but all that matters to the user is that 802.11b is slower than 802.11g with the former going up to 11 Mbit/s and the latter 54 Mbit/s.
It's tempting to just run out and buy the fastest wireless router you can find, but keep in mind that the connection can only go as fast as each end is capable of. In other words, if your laptop has built-in wireless that only supports 802.11b, then you won't get any faster by having a faster wireless router. Also, if you don't do much networking between the computers in your house, then the primary benefit of a wireless network is Internet access. If you have a 7 Mbit/sec connection from the local cable company, a 54 Mbit/sec router isn't going to get you to BrightHub.com any faster.
For Part 2 of this article, read Wireless Home Network - Getting Started Part II.
